Hydrogen production from palm kernel shell: Kinetic modeling and simulation

Abstract

The hydrogen production process from palm kernel shell (PKS) is modeled and simulated by a steady-state gasification system using Aspen PLUS®. The kinetic parameters of the gasification are determined by employing thermogravimetric analysis (TG/DTG) using two gasifying agents (CO2 and steam) and applying three semi-empirical kinetic models to interpret the experimental results (linear model, grain model, and volumetric model). The process was subjected to different temperatures (750–950 °C) and different compositions of the steam/biomass ratio (S/B) (0–2.5). It is obtained that the linear model and the grain model have the best R2 with the gasification results of the PKS with steam (0.966) and CO2 (0.965), respectively. The steam reaction kinetic parameters obtained were E=125.79KJ/mol and A=26.23s−1, and for the reaction with CO2, they were E=99.87KJ/mol andA=6.3s−1. The production yield of H2 (109 g H2/PKS kg) is reached at the highest temperature (950 °C) and the lowest S/B ratio (0). It is concluded that the model can predict with greater precision the hydrogen composition in the syngas, with a 0.135 mean square error, compared to other authors that present a 0.282 mean square error.